The complex of San Paolo is a former Benedictine nunnery in the centre of Parma. The nunnery was founded at the end of the tenth century by the then bishop of the city, Sigefredo II, and was considered very prestigious. Its prestige was based on the fact that it was…
The Biblioteca Palatina in Parma is a very special place. This was demonstrated in the episode The Art of the Feast of the BBC series Italy Unpacked. In this episode, presenter and chef Giorgio Locatelli found a book of recipes in the library that was written in 1680 by Carlo…
The Galleria Nazionale is the largest and most important museum in the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma. Our first visit to the museum was in the summer of 2020, but unfortunately many of the rooms were closed back then because of COVID-19 restrictions. As a consequence we missed the works…
OK, perhaps it was not such a clever question, and perhaps I had not done my homework very well. When I bought a ticket for entry to the Palazzo della Pilotta I asked the lady at the counter whether the Teatro Farnese inside the palazzo was a copy of the…
The district west of Parma’s historical city centre is called Oltretorrente, which means ‘beyond the river’. This is of course a reference to the river Parma. It is hard to miss the church of Santissima Annunziata while exploring Oltretorrente. The church, which is alternatively known as the Basilica del Paradiso,…
“Is that all?” I will not hide the fact that that was my primary reaction when I visited the Museo Diocesano in Parma. The museum, in the basement of the episcopal palace opposite the Duomo, is very small indeed. It basically consists of one large room, a corridor and a…
The basilica of Santa Maria della Steccata can be counted among the most important churches in Parma. Since 1718 it has been the seat of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, a Catholic order with a rather shady history. The church also serves as the mausoleum of members…
The church of San Giovanni Evangelista is situated directly behind the cathedral of Parma. The large church is part of an even larger Benedictine abbey. The first abbey complex dates back to the tenth century: it was built between 980 and 988 and replaced an older oratory dedicated to the…
The beautiful Baptistery of Parma occupies the south side of the Piazza del Duomo. The building, clad in pink marble from Verona, is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The lower part has the well-known Romanesque rounded arches and Romanesque sculptures, but higher up these rounded arches have already…
The cathedral of Parma is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Santa Maria Assunta in Italian. It is an impressive building on the east side of the Piazza del Duomo, with the Baptistery and the episcopal palace housing the museum of the diocese (Museo Diocesano) on the south…
The Galleria Estense is one of the museums that have found accommodation in the Palazzo dei Musei on the edge of Modena’s city centre. The museum was founded in 1854 by Francesco V, the last truly independent duke of Modena from the d’Este family (the duchy was annexed by the…
The outward appearance of the church of Santa Maria della Pomposa is somewhat that of a barn. Try as hard as one may, it is simply impossible to detect any kind of decoration. All one sees is naked brick. Remarkably, it turns out that the church was in fact used…
The Musei del Duomo can be found in the Via Lanfranco, the street behind the Duomo of Modena that was named after the first architect of the cathedral. There are actually two museums here: the Museo del Duomo, which has a collection of frescoes and religious objects, and the Museo…
With a length of about 67 metres and a width of 25, the cathedral of Modena is not an exceptionally large building. It must, however, be counted among the most beautiful Romanesque cathedrals of Italy. People standing in front of the Duomo are immediately struck by the large rose window,…
The two towers of Bologna are the Torre degli Asinelli and Torre Garisenda. Together they are the emblematic icons of this city of students. In the past, Bologna had dozens of similar towers. These were not just defensive structures and lookout points, but also status symbols that rich families in…
The basilica of San Petronio is by far the largest church in all of Bologna, and also one of the largest in Italy. The building is 132 metres deep and 60 metres wide. The façade reaches a height of 51 metres and inside the vaults are at least 44 metres…
The Santa Maria dei Servi is the church of the Servites of Maria in Bologna. This order was founded in 1233 in Florence by a group of wealthy cloth traders. Official papal approval of the order had to wait until 1304. Construction of the Servite church in Bologna started in…
When we visited the church of San Giacomo Maggiore, we got the impression that tourists are not really welcome here. There was a large ‘no pictures’ sign (although the ban on photography does not seem to be strictly enforced) and very little light in the church, and the chapels with…
The complesso di Santo Stefano is a very special complex of churches, chapels, a courtyard and a cloister. Although the complex adjoins the Piazza Santo Stefano and a street named the Via Santo Stefano runs alongside the buildings towards the Porta Santo Stefano, the complex rather surprisingly does not have…
I have many travel guides about Italy. Almost all of them contain information about Bologna, but remarkably not a single one of them discusses the cathedral of the city. Apparently the Duomo of Bologna is fairly unknown and frequently skipped by tourists, which may have contributed to the common misconception…